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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 27, 2013

Globe-trotting Abe has energy on the brain

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is embarking on a diplomatic quest from Sunday that will take him halfway around the globe to Russia and the Middle East accompanied by dozens of top corporate executives, with one key goal in mind: energy.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2013

A call for Japanese fiscal discipline

If trust in Japan's fiscal discipline is lost, the monetary easing carried out by the Bank of Japan could wreak havoc on both the Japanese and world economies.
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Apr 22, 2013

Polished PR, perception strategy fourth arrow in 'Abenomics' quiver

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is back and so, it appears, is Japan. The yen is down, the Nikkei up, and approval ratings and expectations for the new government are sky high.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2013

U.S. will protect allies, Kerry assures Tokyo

U.S. State Secretary John Kerry tells top officials in Tokyo that Washington is committed to defending Japan and South Korea against North Korea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 10, 2013

Pop tourism gains traction

Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan's holographic, animated virtual pop star, beloved fashion...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2013

'Flammable ice': a bad choice

Exploiting domestic offshore reserves of methane hydrate may be too tempting for Japan's leaders to resist. But this 'flammable ice' is a fuel decoy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2013

Marubeni taps geothermal power as nuclear alternative

Marubeni Corp. is working on how to jump-start the geothermal industry and tap the heat that powers volcanoes as an alternative to nuclear reactors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 2, 2013

Tweak the immigration debate and demand an upgrade to denizen class

Crucial to any public discussion is defining the terms of debate. However, often those terms must be redefined later because they don't reflect reality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 26, 2013

If corporal punishment works, where are all the champions?

In the final scenes of Aaron Sorkin's powerfully written film "A Few Good Men," one of the U.S. Marines on trial for the murder of a fellow serviceman is bewildered as to why he has not been cleared of all charges after his commanding officer admits ordering the attack. "We did nothing wrong," cries...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2013

Finding common ground on the Senkakus dispute

The only realistic way to stabilize Japan-China relations is for both countries to go back to the idea of shelving the Senkaku Islands sovereignty issue.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2013

As Abe leans toward TPP, car, insurance sacrifices possible

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe determined to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact, the focus has now shifted to how much deregulation Tokyo would have to sacrifice to Washington in the automobile and insurance sectors in exchange for the protection of Japan's politically...
LIFE
Feb 24, 2013

An inclined view: The life and work of Donald Richie

It was with a heavy heart that I heard from Donald Richie's longtime friend and editor Leza Lowitz that he had passed away on the morning of Tuesday, this week. He was 88.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2013

Obama to push entry of U.S. automakers

President Barack Obama won't back off demands that Japan ease barriers for U.S. automakers before joining negotiations for a regional Pacific trade agreement when he meets Friday in Washington with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, White House aides said.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 22, 2013

Abe's new agenda: better ties with U.S.

As the U.S. seeks to contend with a rising China, the ability of Japan to contribute, and to serve as a positive democratic role model, matters a great deal.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2013

For Abe, overcoming perceptions top job at Obama summit

When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travels to Washington this week for a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama, his first job may be to convince the president he's not a rightwing fanatic seeking confrontation in East Asia, but rather a calm partner who can work with the Americans to maintain peace and...
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 29, 2013

Policy speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the 183rd session of the Diet

Delivered Jan. 28, 2013
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 22, 2013

Readers' views: Skype's downside for teachers; Senkaku and the ICJ; Arudou's ageist attack on Keene; Abe's nuclear folly

Do we really need to know ages? Re: "Osaka: What are your hopes for yourself, Japan and the world in 2013?" (Views From The Street, Jan. 1):
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2013

'Abenomics' out of the gate

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would do well to consult professor Noriko Hama of Doshisha University. Asked by The Japan Times what the country needs, she replied in feisty fashion: "The three things Japan should do in 2013 are raise wages, raise interest rates — and cut the crap."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / WEEK 3
Jan 19, 2013

Nanjing remembers; disputes fester

Young Chinese marking the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre are baptized in battles over war memory that shape bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2013

Rewriting history is unwise

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has appointed a Cabinet that, according to press reports, contains a number of ministers who want to rewrite the history of the 20th century. They, including the new minister of education, are reported as demanding the rescinding of the statement made in 1995 by former Prime...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2013

Abe's opportunity to remake Indo-Japanese ties

With the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) winning a landslide in Japanese parliamentary elections and Shinzo Abe assuming the office of prime minister in Japan for the second time, India-Japan ties have entered a new phase.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 8, 2013

From Taiji to Okinawa, readers dissect some issues of 2012

In the first of our new Community Chest letters columns, we bring together a selection of mails received in response to some of the final Community stories of 2012.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 8, 2013

Online English studies benefit Japanese, Filipinos

Mohammad Moin tries to realize what he calls "intellectual fair trade" through his operation of an online English conversation school for Japanese — all taught by Filipino teachers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 6, 2013

Frederik Schodt: pop culture ambassador to the world

Quick quiz: Who was the first Japanese civilian to be issued a passport?

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami